Greens official did no tangible work, sacked staffer claims

QUESTION: Where can you get a job where you only have to turn up to the office one day a week and don't have to produce any tangible work?

Answer: The Greens.

That is the extraordinary claim at the heart of a court case where a top former Greens officer is suing the progressive pro-worker party for sacking her and withholding her entitlements after she raised concerns about another senior official who didn't appear to do anything.

Apparently, according to a sensational legal claim obtained by news.com.au, not doing anything in the Greens can get you a promotion and a shot at parliament.

In a statement of claim filed in the NSW Supreme Court, former NSW Greens executive officer Carole Medcalf says she was hired in 2014 to "professionalise" the party's management and "introduce policies of corporate governance".

However she says her position became untenable after she raised concerns about Planning and Environmental Law Officer James Ryan, who was later promoted to campaign coordinator.

Ms Medcalf claims she was terminated so that Mr Ryan and NSW Greens co-convenor Hall Greenland could spend the party's taxpayer-funded election monies without proper scrutiny - something the party denies.

She said both her and the Greens agreed that she would leave with a termination payment of over $90,000 only to have the party later accuse her of "serious misconduct" and withhold the payment. She is now suing the party for wrongful dismissal as well as aggravated damages to express the court's "disgust".

Former Greens executive officer Carole Medcalf is suing the party for wrongful dismissal.News Limited

In a statement of claim tendered to the NSW Supreme Court - largely disputed by the Greens - Ms Medcalf said Mr Ryan worked only three days a week, including two days from home.

He was supposed to produce monthly performance reports on what he actually did, but did not produce any, the claim alleges. Nor did he produce any "reports, memoranda, notes or other documents" to demonstrate any of his work.

However the Greens deny that Mr Ryan's work was inadequate or that he failed to properly report to Ms Medcalf.

Comment has been sought from Mr Ryan.

In late 2015 Mr Ryan was promoted to "Campaign Coordinator" for NSW ahead of the 2016 federal election, at which the Greens Senate vote in NSW went slightly backwards and where they failed to win any lower house seats.

In her statement of claim, Ms Medcalf says Mr Ryan "failed to properly manage his role and the activities of those beneath him … adequately, or at all" and would tell staff he had delegated other tasks and functions "when he had not done so".

And when he was made campaign coordinator, Ms Medcalf had deemed it unnecessary to fill his previous position because Mr Ryan had not actually done anything in it.

Greens official and former campaign coordinator James Ryan did not perform in his job Ms Medcalf claims.News Corp Australia

"The Defendant (the NSW Greens) had previously received no material workflow throughput from this position," Ms Medcalf's claim states.

"Notwithstanding, the Defendant had managed to carry on and to function satisfactorily without receiving any positive contribution from the position."

Yet when Ms Medcalf first raised issues about Mr Ryan's performance in 2014 she says she was stonewalled by Mr Greenland and another party figure and told to find "unique and alternative ways" to accommodate him.

Her statement says she was "instructed" that:

"Mr James Ryan was a valued member of the Defendant's staff; he was a person expected to achieve highly within the Defendant organisation; and unique and alternative ways operating outside traditional management structures would have to be identified in order to manage Mr Ryan's working arrangements."

After Mr Ryan was appointed campaign coordinator Ms Medcalf says she was "ostracised" within the party. Mr Ryan was also "favoured" by Senator Lee Rhiannon and Mr Greenland to replace the late MLC John Kaye in the NSW upper house.

After initially agreeing to accept the payout and leave, Ms Medcalf was then accused of asking the Finance Officer for more money than she was entitled to and this was used as grounds for her termination for "serious misconduct". Ms Medcalf denies the allegations.

In their statement of defence, the NSW Greens denied that Mr Ryan did not perform any work or produce adequate reports as Planning and Environmental Law Officer.

"Mr Ryan provided sufficient work of his to the plaintiff so that she could properly judge, consider and determine the throughput of his work," the party said. It also said Mr Ryan worked out of the office two days per week, not one.

And during his time as campaign coordinator, the party "denies that his work standard was in any way inadequate".

Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon is also a supporter of Mr Ryan.News Corp Australia

Ms Medcalf's claim also stated she had been terminated for the "improper purpose" of "ensuring that each of Mr Greenland and Mr Ryan could go on spending monies from the Greens election reserve, without having to provide any accounting to the Plaintiff in the context of her duties and responsibilities, that such monies and funds were being spent properly". The Greens defence also denies this.

According to the Greens' defence, Mr Ryan has returned to his position as Planning and Environmental Law Officer - which Ms Medcalf was unsuccessful in attempting to abolish.

The Greens NSW website states: "James provides campaign support and advice on local government, planning and environmental law issues."